Parent wins on TB test rule

Hilo High is ordered to allow a girl to attend until a hearing on refusing the requirement

HILO » A Big Island man who opposes tuberculosis testing on religious grounds has won a court order allowing his daughter to attend school temporarily without taking the TB test.

Leonard Horowitz obtained a temporary restraining order from Kona Circuit Judge Elizabeth Strance forcing Hilo High School to allow Horowitz's daughter Alena, 14, to attend classes there until Thursday, when another hearing will be held on the matter.

The school had barred Alena from attending because she did not have the required TB test.

Horowitz, whose religion is a mixture of Christian and Jewish beliefs, contends that TB testing is the same as vaccination because a small amount of substances related to tuberculosis are injected into a person's skin.

Horowitz says his daughter should not have to take the test, since the state exempts people from taking vaccinations who oppose them on religious grounds.

State health officials say the TB test is not a vaccination.

Horowitz and his wife, Jackie Lindenbach, moved to Hawaii from Idaho a few years ago but home-schooled Alena until this school year, giving rise to the need for a TB test.

Horowitz was educated as a dentist, but he has gained nationwide fame in some circles for writing numerous books criticizing standard medical practices.